HTTP 423 — Locked
HTTP 423
Locked
The resource is locked by someone else and cannot be changed right now.
What 423 actually means
A WebDAV code for explicit locking. Someone — possibly you, from another device — holds a lock on the file or collection, and the server will not accept a write until it is released or you present the matching lock token. It also appears outside WebDAV in systems that borrowed the semantics, notably some hosting control panels that lock an account during maintenance.
Common causes
- A WebDAV LOCK held by another user or another session
- A document open for editing in an office suite that locks server-side
- A stale lock left behind by a client that crashed or lost its connection
- A hosting provider locking an account during maintenance or a security review
If you're just trying to view the page
- Close the file wherever else it is open, including on other devices
- Wait for the lock to expire — most have a timeout measured in minutes
- Ask whoever holds the lock to close the document, or ask an administrator to break it
If it's your site
- Include the lock owner and expiry in the response so clients can show something useful
- Set finite lock timeouts; infinite locks plus a crashed client means manual cleanup forever
- Support the `Lock-Token` header on write requests, and expose a way for administrators to break a stale lock
Reference
- Status code
- 423
- Reason phrase
- Locked
- Category
- 4xx — Client Error
- Defined in
- RFC 4918 §11.3
Common questions
- What does HTTP 423 mean?
- The resource is locked by someone else and cannot be changed right now. A WebDAV code for explicit locking. Someone — possibly you, from another device — holds a lock on the file or collection, and the server will not accept a write until it is released or you present the matching lock token.
- How do I fix a 423 error?
- Close the file wherever else it is open, including on other devices
- Is 423 a client error or a server error?
- 423 is in the 4xx range, which means client error. The request itself was the problem, so retrying it unchanged will usually return the same code.
Related pages
- 404 Not Found The server is reachable and working, but there is nothing at the address you ask
- 403 Forbidden The server understood the request and is refusing to allow it, and logging in wi
- 401 Unauthorized You need to authenticate, and either you did not or your credentials were reject
- 429 Too Many Requests You have sent more requests than the service allows in a given period.
- 400 Bad Request The server could not understand the request because something about it is malfor
- 413 Content Too Large The request body is bigger than the server is willing to accept.
- 422 Unprocessable Content The request is well-formed and understood, but the data in it fails the rules.
- 405 Method Not Allowed The URL exists, but it does not accept the HTTP method you used.
- 409 Conflict The request cannot be completed because it clashes with the current state of the
- 415 Unsupported Media Type The server will not accept the format of the body you sent.
- 408 Request Timeout The server gave up waiting for the client to finish sending its request.
- 410 Gone The resource was deliberately removed and is not coming back, and there is no fo